CenterParcs toyshops drop ‘just’ boys and girls signs

Following contact from Let Toys Be Toys and our supporters, Center Parcs have confirmed that ‘Just boys’ and ‘Just girls’ no longer appear on toy shelves in the toy shops in their resorts.

‘Justgirls’ signs gone from the toy store at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest. Taken by @stripeysteve

The ‘Just Kids’ toy stores are operated at Center Parcs holiday resorts across the UK by Swiss-based Nuance Group, who have declined to comment on the change.

Last year Let Toys Be Toys supporters repeatedly flagged up the way that Center Parcs’ on-site toy shop signs took gender labelling a step further than most, with signs telling shoppers the kind of fun that’s on offer for ‘Just boys’ or ‘Just girls’.

“This is appalling. We regularly go to Elveden but will now reconsider.”
“The ‘just’ makes it 1000 times worse. Does a child have to read a toy they want is *not* for them?”
“Awful. We go to Center Parcs every yr. Maybe won’t again until this gets changed.”
“In what way is a “boy’s toy” gender specific? Calling it that makes girls feel abnormal for liking them.”
“It is heartbreaking that young impressionable minds will see that this summer and not realise it’s nonsense!”
“The ‘just’ sections are some of the worst gender divisions I’ve seen. Not for girls. JUST GIRLS.”

Several supporters have been in touch to say that the signs had disappeared from shops they’d visited recently, and a Center Parcs customer services staff member confirmed yesterday that “in the Just Toys toy shops the gender specific signs have been removed.”

Says Let Toys Be Toys campaigner Megan Perryman,

“We’re delighted that Nuance Group and Center Parcs have done the right thing and recognised that customers don’t want to see their children’s choices limited in this way. I had been to CenterParcs every year since my daughter was a baby but I stopped going when they changed the signs. I’m very pleased I can go back now!”